Donald Trump’s on and off flirtations with brutal North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un are some of the oddest and most distasteful elements of the travesty he calls his presidency. He has heaped fawning praise on the murderous potentate and received no tangible results in the process, succeeding only in boosting Kim’s international presence in the process.
Recently, it emerged that Kim’s half-brother Kim Jong Nam — who appears to have been assassinated by his own government with nerve gas in 2017 — may have been in contact with the CIA. While he was living outside North Korea and apparently had little influence within his infamously secretive home nation at the time, it would make sense that the United States would be interested in gleaning any information they could from him. North Korea is in a lot of ways a black box of oppression, a prison kingdom that starves and abuses its citizens in order to maintain the iron gripped control of the Kim regime.
Given the authoritarian cruelty and nuclear capabilities of the country, it’s in America’s best interests to learn everything it can about the goings on above the 38th parallel. Donald Trump doesn’t seem to agree though.
While speaking to reporters today, Trump bragged about a “beautiful letter” he received from the dictator and addressed the story about Kim Jong Nam working with the Central Intelligence Agency, dismissing it not only as untrue but as something he would never allow.
“I saw the information about the CIA with respect to his brother or half-brother and I would tell him that would not happen under my auspice that’s for sure. I wouldn’t let that happen under my auspices,” Trump stated.
Once again, we find the President of the United States bending over backward to accommodate a foreign strongman. It’s certainly possible that he is lying, but it’s also possible he was completely unaware that the CIA was working with Kim’s half-brother in the first place given the fact that he rarely reads his presidential briefings.
In either case, it’s beyond unacceptable for him to be publicly siding with a foreign adversary over the intelligence gathering efforts of the CIA. He’s more interested in prompting flattery from Kim than is he in keeping America safe, adding one more reason to the incredibly long list of why he is unfit to be president.
Folks will be focused on Trump's criticism of Joe Biden today, but don't miss the president promising Kim Jong Un that he won't let the CIA use informants against him. pic.twitter.com/acXJMKKeww
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 11, 2019
Fascinating backstory. Trump gets asked abt report that Kim Jong Un's brother was a CIA source. Kim Jong Nam was assassinated in 2017 by North Korea. Trump responds by pledging to Kim that he won't let the CIA do that "under my auspices." cc @benjaminwittes @MaxBoot @ColinKahl pic.twitter.com/UbGoWyYwX0
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 11, 2019
